From Sick Channel to Healthy Relationship: The Development of Channel Research 1980–2000

This article focuses on the evolution of marketing research. Empirical analysis of 142 articles published in the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Research indicates a considerable shift in the concepts and methods used. Research in the early 1980s built on research on distribution channels done during the 1970s and tended to be preoccupied with the themes of conflict and power, particularly as expressed in the struggle for dominance within the automobile industry. The 1990s witnessed the development of research on trust, cooperation and commitment, with the emergence of concepts such as service marketing and relationship marketing, both of which emphasize the need for collaboration among actors in a distribution channel.